Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry

Audio Version from LibroFM

{out April 22, 2025)

This is my 2nd Emily Henry book and I was not fond of the first one I read (“People We Meet on Vacation”). As someone who doesn’t love the romance genre but doesn’t mind if there is romance as a side part, I did enjoy the plot of “Great Big Beautiful Life.” For romance, Emily Henry dove full on into the grumpy-sunshine and rivals tropes. But I loathed all the spice. It’s just not something I enjoy reading or listening to so I skipped all of that (& there is quite a bit!).

To drive the narrative, Emily Henry uses the slow reveal mystery of a wealthy recluse, which I quite enjoyed. I binged this book in 2 days simply because I was curious about the past story. I also enjoy the way Emily Henry writes personal relationships is thorough and with depth, and she dives headlong into mother daughter relationships which was a nice addition to the storyline.

(I must add: Julie Whelan is an incredible audiobook narrator so if you have a chance to listen to the audiobook, try it!).

Thank you to Emily Henry and LibroFM for the audio-ARC